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Caught on camera: Mail thief rolls through north Phoenix neighborhood

Posted at 10:38 PM, Feb 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-06 06:36:20-05

PHOENIX — More and more mail is disappearing in the Valley.

Whether it comes from post offices, mail trucks, or your own mailbox, thieves are raking in money and personal information.

"It was definitely not a crime of opportunity," said Steven Dawson. "She had a crime of purpose.”

Dawson is the latest victim to the trend. His surveillance cameras captured crystal-clear video of a woman stuffing a bag with his and neighbors' mail, then taking off on an electric scooter.

"She cleans out my neighbors’ mailboxes -- all three of them -- comes up to mine, cleans out all three of them, and just rides off like nothing happened," he added.

Dawson, following protocol, called the postal inspector to file a report and submitted his video as evidence, but he's unsure it'll help him regain what was lost.

"I was missing birthday cards because it was my daughter‘s birthday and I was missing some tax forms, bank statements," he said. “I’ll probably have to put a notice on my credit.”

Carol Allan noticed she had no mail when she returned home from work Monday, the same day Dawson caught the mystery rider stuffing her bag.

"Usually you get some kind of junk mail sometimes but I didn’t get anything and I thought, well that’s kind of weird," she said. "I just think it’s crazy. I want to tell her to get a job.”

Dawson and others say they're considering getting locked mailboxes to thwart further attempts.